And just like that, in his first full season back in Dallas, Jason led his team to the Western Conference Semifinals, the Mavericks defeating the San Antonio Spurs, 4-1, in their opening round playoff series.
 Jason dives for a loose ball in the fourth quarter of Dallas’ clinching Game 5 victory (Getty Images). |
Perhaps Dallasbasketball.com put things into perspective the best:
“The argument rotates around in crazy circles, and the people move around like it’s Musical Chairs. “Parker’s coming up!’’ “No, CP3 is a one-man team!’’ “Nah, Deron is the Next Big Thing!’’ “Devin is going to be a superstar!’’ “Nobody can handle Baron Davis!’’ “Here comes Rose. … no, wait, here comes Rondo!’’
“And then there’s the great PG who’s position in the game of Musical Chairs never really moves. He just sits there. He’s in the game. Among the top … something.”
“The other eight or 10 or 20 best, they take turns on the Hot Hits Chart, moving mercurially. Frantically. Crazily.”
“Jason Kidd just sits there, owning whichever Musical Chair that is.”
On Tuesday night, it was a three-pointer from Jason to end the third quarter that catapulted Dallas to a 106-93 victory on the road. As the Star-Telegram related it:
“There was a hustling rebound by Josh Howard. A quick dribble through a Spurs defense struggling to regroup — a frequent sight in this series.”
“And as the buzzer sounded, suddenly there was Jason Kidd, the guy who supposedly can’t shoot, swishing a 3-pointer from the corner. The Dallas Mavericks were up by 15.”
“The arena let out an audible gasp.”
With that shot, the air was taken out of the Spurs sails, allowing the Mavs to cruise to the victory in the fourth quarter. J-Kidd had another solid all-around game for the Mavs, finishing with 12 points, three boards, five assists, and three steals. It was appropriate that Jason hit the shot that ultimately doomed the Spurs, as his stellar play helped to lead the Mavs to victory.
Over the five games, Jason had 23 assists and only three turnovers.
“I can’t say enough about what he’s done for the team,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said of Kidd. “His knowledge of the game, his knowledge of the team, him having the pulse of the team, all so critical. He’s really led our team.’’
Still, the Mavs aren’t content to just win won series. As Jason told the AP:
“We’ve accomplished one little baby step in winning a series. Now it starts over again, and it’s the first team to four. We’ll have maybe a day to enjoy it, or a night, but that’s it.”
TALKING ABOUT NEXT YEAR
With Jason playing as well as he currently is, the subject of what he will do on the free agent market after the season can’t help but be brought up by the media.
No. 2 talked with NBA.com about how he is going to approach this off-season:
“I’m going into it with an open mind and see what comes up. There could be some great situations again, so maybe this time I’ll think with my mind and not my heart.”
“I want to prove to the suitors I can still play at a high level and still help a team especially a team that’s close to winning a championship.”
“I wouldn’t even know how to handicap it, but I like it in Dallas.”
NEXT UP
The Mavs have to await the winner of the New Orleans vs. Denver series, which Denver can clinch Wednesday night at 9:30 pm CST with a victory.
RELATED STORIES
Mavericks 106, Spurs 93 (ESPN.com, Apr. 28th, 2009)
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=290428024
Kidd’s 3-pointer the dagger as Dallas Mavericks show superiority (Star-Telegram, Apr. 29th, 2009)
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/1345864.html
G5: Mavs 106, Spurs 93 – Your All-Access Pass (Dallasbasketball.com, Apr. 29th, 2009)
http://www.dallasbasketball.com/fullColumn.php?id=1583
Mavericks send Spurs to quickest ouster since 2000 (AP, Apr. 29th, 2009)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMmEGIJahMhaousdkCt-fO9lY9MAD97S0CRG1
Kidd closes the door on Spurs…but not everyone else (NBA.com, Apr. 29th, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/art_garcia/04/29/mavs.spurs.game5/